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Age Of Reason (album)
Age of Reason is a studio album by Australian singer John Farnham. It was released in Australia on 25 July 1988 and debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in August and remained on top for eight weeks. It was the follow up to his previous No. 1 album, Whispering Jack, and was the highest selling album in Australia in 1988. As of 1997, it was 8x platinum indicating sales of over 0.56 million units. It is also critically considered one of Farnham's best albums, with "Age Of Reason" and "Beyond The Call" being about the urgency for the world to wake up and solve its problems. The first two singles from the album were "Age Of Reason", which peaked at No. 1, and "Two Strong Hearts", at No. 6. Two further singles were released, "Beyond The Call," which reached the top 50, and "We're No Angels," which did not. Background John Farnham released Whispering Jack in October 1986, it became the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia and peaked at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts for a, then record, total of 25 weeks. Ahead of his follow up album, in July 1988, he released the title single, "Age Of Reason", which peaked at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, It was written by Johanna Pigott and Dragon members Todd Hunter and his brother Marc Hunter. The album, Age Of Reason, which was produced by Ross Fraser, debuted at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in August and stayed on top for eight weeks. It was the highest selling album in Australia from 1988, and, as of 1997, it was 8× platinum indicating sales of over 0.56 million units. Renewed interest in Whispering Jack returned it to the Top Ten in August, nearly two years after its initial release. The release of Age Of Reason coincided with John Farnham's performances at the World Expo '88 at the River Stage in Brisbane, Australia on the 24th and 25th of July 1988. The performance from 25 July was aired live on national television on Australia's Channel Seven network. The event was titled Age Of Reason: Live At Expo. As of December 2008, "Age Of Reason" remains Farnham's last #1 Australian single. Other charting singles from this album were, "Two Strong Hearts" which peaked at #6 and "Beyond The Call", while a fourth single, "We're No Angels" did not reach the top 50. Age Of Reason had international success peaking at #4 in Sweden, and #9 in Norway. At the 1988 ARIA Awards, Farnham won 'Best Male Artist', 'Best Adult Contemporary Album' for "A Touch Of Paradise", and the 'Outstanding Achievement Award'. In March 1989, Farnham was in Moscow, USSR to promote Greenpeace album Rainbow Warriors, as part of an international ensemble including David Byrne (Talking Heads), Peter Gabriel, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) and The Edge (U2). Farnham found time to record a duet with Dannielle Gaha, a cover of Spandau Ballet's "Communication", which peaked at #13 in August 1989. The CD version of Age Of Reason has two bonus tracks including Farnham's covers of AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)" and Cold Chisel's "When The War Is Over". The lead single off the album, "Age Of Reason", was used in a promo for Australia's Channel Seven News in 2000. Track listing LP track listing # "Age Of Reason" (T. Hunter, J. Pigott) – 4:58 # "Blow By Blow" (D. Stewart, O. Ormo, B. Harrison) – 4:37 # "Listen To The Wind" (B. Thomas, J. Stevens) – 4:26 # "Two Strong Hearts" (B. Woolley, A. Hill) – 3:35 # "Burn Down The Night" (B. LaBounty) – 3:32 # "Beyond The Call" (D. Batteau, D. Brown, K. Dukes) – 4:43 # "We're No Angels" (R. Wilson) – 4:52 # "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done" (C. Thompson, A. Qunta) – 3:35 # "The Fire" (C. Thompson, K. Reid, Leiber) – 4:26 # "Some Do, Some Don't" (S. Hague, M. Mueller) – 4:19 CD track listing # "Age Of Reason" (T. Hunter, J. Pigott) – 4:58 # "Blow By Blow" (D. Stewart, O. Ormo, B. Harrison) – 4:37 # "Listen To The Wind" (B. Thomas, J. Stevens) – 4:26 # "Two Strong Hearts" (B. Woolley, A. Hill) – 3:35 # "Burn Down The Night" (B. LaBounty) – 3:32 # "Beyond The Call" (D. Batteau, D. Brown, K. Dukes) – 4:43 # "We're No Angels" (R. Wilson) – 4:52 # "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done" (C. Thompson, A. Qunta) – 3:35 # "The Fire" (C. Thompson, K. Reid, Leiber) – 4:26 # "Some Do, Some Don't" (S. Hague, M. Mueller) – 4:19 # "When The War Is Over" (S.Prestwich) - 4:50 # "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)" (A. Young, M. Young, B. Scott) – 4:11 Alternate CD track listing # "Age Of Reason" (T. Hunter, J. Pigott) – 4:58 # "Blow By Blow" (D. Stewart, O. Ormo, B. Harrison) – 4:37 # "Listen To The Wind" (B. Thomas, J. Stevens) – 4:26 # "Two Strong Hearts" (B. Woolley, A. Hill) – 3:35 # "Burn Down The Night" (B. LaBounty) – 3:32 # "You're The Voice (Long Version)" (A. Qunta, K. Reid, M. Ryder, C. Thompson) - 5:30 # "Beyond The Call" (D. Batteau, D. Brown, K. Dukes) – 4:43 # "We're No Angels" (R. Wilson) – 4:52 # "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done" (C. Thompson, A. Qunta) – 3:35 # "The Fire" (C. Thompson, K. Reid, Leiber) – 4:26 # "Some Do, Some Don't" (S. Hague, M. Mueller) – 4:19 # "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)" (A. Young, M. Young, B. Scott) – 4:11 Personnel *John Farnham - vocals *David Hirschfelder - keyboards *Brett Garsed - guitars *Angus Burchall - drums & percussion *Wayne Nelson - bass *Venetta Fields - vocals *Lindsay Field - vocals *Jon Stevens - guitar on "Listen To The Wind" *James Morrison - trumpet on "Some Do, Some Don't" *Bill Harrower - sax on "Blow By Blow" *Thomas Metropouli - mandolin & piano accordion *Lisa Edwards - additional vocals *Ross Hannaford - additional vocals *Joe Creighton - additional vocals *Ross Fraser - producer *Doug Brady - engineer *Doug Roberts - assistant engineer *Alan Parsons - mastering *Shelley Maine - technician Chart positions Singles Domestic releases SFL1-0168 (LP) SFCD-0168 (CD) SFK1-0168 (MC) 88697522092 (Box Set w/"Whispering Jack" 2CD) International releases PL71839 (European LP) PL71839 (European CD) PL71839 (European MC) 9687-2-R (USA LP) 9935-2-R (USA CD) 9687-4-R (USA MC) R32P-1163 (Japanese CD) Category:Studio albums